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Outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is asked some version of the same question in almost every interview - "Will you run for president in 2016?"

But just days before her planned Friday departure from the State Department, Clinton's answers about her future are as inscrutable as ever - denying any concrete plans to run, expressing a need to take a breather, but always stopping short of the ironclad denial that might stop the speculative fury (at least for a while).

She certainly sounded like someone finished with politics in an exit interview with NPR. Asked what questions she needs to answer for herself before deciding on another run for the White House, Clinton shrugged off the inquiry: "I'm not even posing those questions. I am really looking forward to stepping off the fast track that I've been on. I've been out of politics as secretary of state. I don't see myself getting back into politics."

Voicing a desire to dive into philanthropy and advocacy, Clinton said, "I'm going to have my hands full. I don't quite know how I'm going to adjust to not having a schedule...But I'm looking forward to that and I have no other plans besides that."

She sounded a similar note at an event at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, saying she is "not inclined" to run for president in 2016. "I am not thinking about anything like that right now," she said. "I am looking forward to finishing up my tenure as secretary of state and then catching up on about 20 years of sleep deprivation."